The Truth About Collagen.

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I’m sure you have heard all about collagen, especially when it comes to beauty.

Collagen is essential for youthful looking skin and when we’re young it comes to us naturally – our skin is around 80% collagen during our youth. Unfortunately, when we hit 25 we start to lose around one percent per year meaning that by the time most women hit 50 they are left with around 55% of natural collagen in their skin – which means wrinkles and sagging.

So what is collagen?

All the branding for the cosmetics industry hails collagen as the weapon against aging but it’s actually way more useful than being a protector against wrinkles.

Collagen makes up around 30% of protein in the human body and is what holds together our tissue, supports our skin, muscles, tendons, teeth and more.

Benefits for beauty – and how to get a natural injection.

Like any beauty regime, if you smoke, use sun beds or over indulge in a high sugar diet then you’re going to find that you age a lot faster than those who don’t.

If you’re a smoker, think about quitting so that your skin can absorb nutrients such as Vitamin C better, which is key to constructing collagen.

Quitting sugar is also a good idea when it comes to increasing collagen levels. Sugar will stiffen the molecules and stop them from doing their job – which is to keep your skin juicy and flexible.

Here are some foods to add to your diet for a natural collagen boost.

Dark leafy green vegetables. It’s obvious that increasing your vegetable intake is going to make you look and feel better. But dark leafy greens such as spinach, cabbage, and kale are higher in antioxidants, packed full of Vitamin C and include a vital element to collagen production: lutein.

Anything red. I know you know this but just to make it clear, red wine and red velvet cake do not count. Instead plenty of tomatoes, peppers, beetroot, and berries. These foods increase the production of collagen because they are full of antioxidants and lycopene.

Lentils and Beans. Beans are high in protein and contain hyaluronic acid which retains water and in turn keeps your skin hydrated.

Soy. There’s some debate as to whether soy is actually good for you. However, as long as you steer away from process soy you will see the benefits. Soy helps lower cholesterol and has collagen forming effects.

Olives. Olives will help promote collagen formation due to the sulphur.

Don’t forget the bones. Of an animal that is, it’s not just fruits and vegetables that give you a boost. Another popular way to get a fix of collagen is through drinking bone broth or eating bone marrow. The bones are where you’ll find the most collagen fibers and cooking them up can help heal a leaky gut and work wonders for your skin, hair, teeth, and bones.